Analysis Of Patent Application Status Of Hemp Fiber Technology

Trend chart of patent application for modification of hemp fiber in China

As a kind of green fiber, hemp fiber has been used for thousands of years in China. It is one of the important textile fibers in China and enjoys high reputation in the world.

There are more varieties, and the more bast fiber used in textile is ramie.

Sisal, hemp, Apocynum venetum, etc.

Nowadays, depending on modern textile technology, hemp fibers are blended with various plants, animals and chemical fibers to produce diversified textile products, that is, hemp fiber composites.

In order to explore the patent layout in this field, the author searched the patent abstracts database in China, and the search deadline was up to January 18, 2018, in order to provide reference for related industries.

Late start, research and development in an orderly way

Hemp composite material is a mixture of hemp fibers and other materials.

In the field of hemp fiber composites, the developed countries have invested heavily.

According to information from the European cannabis Industry Association, there are about 15 to 20 companies in the European Union engaged in processing and processing hemp fibers.

The developing countries also attach great importance to the research of fiber reinforced composites, such as Turkey, Bangladesh, Malaysia, India and Brazil.

In contrast, the research work of hemp composites in China started late.

It is understood that the research of China's Hemp composites began in 1994.

Patent data show that between 1994 and 2012, the patent application amount of the technology was relatively small, not more than 13, but showed a gradual increase trend, reached a small peak in 2006, and then a small fall in patent applications in 2007.

The author analyzed that this situation is mainly due to the 8 patent applications of Sichuan Yibin silliya Limited by Share Ltd in 2006 about the technology of new type pulp containing hemp and mixed cellulose.

Between 2012 and 2016, the patent application of the technology increased year by year, especially in 2015, double the number of patent applications in 2014.

In recent years, with the improvement of environmental protection requirements, many enterprises have made technical improvements on the basis of previous studies, and submitted some patent applications on fiber composites.

However, due to the fact that some patent applications were not published in 2017, the statistics may not be complete.

At present, the main research fields in the field of fiber reinforced plastics in China are Xi'an Polytechnic University, Zhongshan University and National University of Defense Technology. The research focuses on thermosetting resin matrix composites.

Through further analysis, we can see that at present, the patent application in China's hemp fiber field is mainly related to the preparation of hemp fibers, namely, degumming and composite hemp fibers.

Patent data showed that the patent application of IPC (D01C classification) and modified IPC (D01F IPC) were 399 and 299, respectively. Among them, foreign patent applicants had only 4 patent applications to China through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) approach.

Key areas to increase R & D research and development

Modification of hemp fibers is based on modification of hemp fibers, and hemp fibers are mainly modified with hemp fibers.

Patent data show (as shown), China's fiber modification technology patent applicants are more scattered, each applicant's patent application is not large.

Among the applicants with more than 4 patent applications, only one Donghua University has a patent application, and its patent application is only 8. This shows that the University's R & D has not paid special attention to the technology.

In contrast, the amount of patent applications in the field is far higher than that in universities, showing a high degree of research activity. Enterprises in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces occupy the vast majority, which may be related to the policies of the textile and textile industry and government departments, but also to the development of domestic green areas and sustainable development.

Although there are many kinds of hemp fibers, there are some parts.

The patent application is developed according to the characteristics of different hemp fibers, and there are also some hemp fibers suitable for all properties.

The author has found that nearly 98 of 1/3's patent applications are suitable for all hemp fibers.

Secondly, the patent applications in this field are mainly aimed at flax and ramie technology. This is because the size of linen textile in China occupies the first place in the world. The flax fiber is thick and short, the handle is soft and the cotton is the same, the white gloss is inferior to the ramie, and it is stronger than the ramie in the bast crops.

In addition, ramie has a lot of output in China, and its fiber is thin and long, and its color is white. It has a silk like luster, and has the advantages of water absorption, heat dissipation and high strength.

The author thinks that the higher patent applications of flax and ramie match their production and textile size in China.

In addition, the patent applications of sisal, Apocynum and jute are roughly equal, and the future needs further research and development.

From a technical point of view, modification of hemp fibers mainly involves surface modification of hemp fibers and composite with other materials.

Among them, hemp fiber composites mainly covered 264 patents, accounting for 88% of the modified hemp fibers.

In these patent applications, the two methods of composite and modification can be seen, mainly the formation of hemp fibers blended with other fibers.

There are only 34 patent applications relating to the formation of composite hemp fibers from rayon viscose and other viscose or additives.

It can be seen from the above analysis that the main research direction of modification of hemp fibers is the formation of composite fibers with hemp fibers mixed with other fibers or materials.

In addition, there are few patent applications for modification of pure hemp fibers, mainly using functional materials to modify the surface of hemp fibers, for example, surface modification of graphene to obtain fibers with increased strength and toughness.

It is more about the patent application of composite modification of hemp fiber, and other mixed fibers include cotton, synthetic fiber or animal fiber, and other composite materials include resin, filler and so on.

The applicant of Anhui's Anhui Ling down products Co., Ltd., which is the largest applicant in China, is the composite material of hemp fiber, mainly composed of down fiber.

Compound feather down material is mixed with all kinds of hemp fibers and other added materials to obtain compound, down resistant materials, such as antibacterial, UV resistant and antistatic.

The modification properties of composite hemp fibers are mainly reflected in antibacterial, strength, antistatic, health care and so on.

Antibacterial and antistatic properties are the common characteristics of hemp fiber, which are antibacterial, absorbent, hygroscopic and breathable.

Health care is due to the fact that hemp fibers generally contain beneficial substances such as sterols, and different hemp fibers contain different chemical components that are helpful to health care.

Through analyzing the composition of linen fibers, the author finds that with the deep development of hemp fiber and its health care products, Chinese fiber will have a broad market prospect.